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OUR LIFE Monthly, published by Ukrainian National Women’s League of America VOL. XLI FEBRUARY 1984 EDITORIAL SUCCESS! HOW IS IT MEASURED? AND IS THE SCALE OF ANY REAL VALUE! Before we attempt to answer these questions, we must define what is meant by ‘“success.” For some, suc cess is a good home life, for others professional or artis tic achievement, or a high corporate or political position. For still others, happiness is working for their commun ity or nation. And finally there are those for whom, an achievement is attaining fame or material riches. The way in which a person regards religion, his coun try, and social problems is developed over the years. It is affected by family, school, society, and where one was born and raised. Yet we often hear of people who were raised under adverse conditions of brain-washing and through sheer strength, they break through great obsta cles in their search for truth. There are also people growing up in total freedom, with nothing being forced upon them. Here it is a matter of choosing the proper values to live by; often they are not chosen properly. Just as a person’s surroundings have an affect on his view of life, these same surroundings affect his values. Regarding material riches too highly, comparing oneself to those who are richer, regarding oneself as being poorer than actually is the case, all develope a sense of inferiority. This is followed by an overexagger ated search for material riches, and by a feeling that material riches will ensure happiness, the fulfillment of all one’s dreams. But in a country as big America, no mat ter how rich one is, there is always someone richer, and one is constantly misled by a search for still greater riches. If one is too materialistic, one tends to neglect per sonal talents, family life, community life. One can realize that other things are important as well, but they are put off till such a time when we achieve our materialistic goals. But time rushes by and soon one’s creative years are in the past. One can understand the “second wave” of immi grants who, having had a difficult life themselves, want ed to give their children greater financial security. But they still cultivated a sense of patriotism in their child ren, sign them up to schools, various youth organi zations and functions. The younger generation should have developed the right priorities in life, yet we often hear of young couples who refuse to subscribe to U- krainian publicatons, to belong to organizations where dues must be paid or to send their children to Ukrainian schools since the costs are too high. These young cou ples feel that their homes must be as elaborate as their neighbors', that they must travel to all the popular vaca tion spots. The costs of their “Necessities of Life” are much higher than the costs of belonging to the Ukrain ian community. Material riches also tend to carry with them a lever of snobism. People often buy artistic works not because they enjoy them but because they must have them in order to be “Upper Crust.” Cultural snobism can be beneficial to an extent in that the children of “Snobs” who buy valuable works of art can learn to truly appre ciate fine art even if the parents do not. We should be glad when members of our commun ity become wealthy. There are Canadian businessmen who support educational institutions, art galleries, etc. But for them wealth is not an end in itself but a means. Wealth should have a place in our lives, but we must be able to set our priorities. There is still another instance in which priorities are often not set properly, concerning our culture, music and art. Many measure the value of art by the lever of fame achieved by the artist. If the artist is well known and admired, he is considered a good artist. But the road to fame is long and difficult. There are many works of art that are unknown simply because they were never brought to anyone’s attention. The concert in the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on October 2, 1983 charmed not only Ukrainians but also the American public. Who will bring our art and culture to the lever of world fame? We must do so. Our talented young musicians can bring the works of our musicians to the attention of the world. We speak of music here, but it also pertains to other forms of art, as well as literary works. Several of our poets (Vasyl Stus, for instance) are worthy of a Nobel Prize, but their work must first be brought to the attention of the judges. That is our task! That is the task of our young cul tured individuals! We must leave our complaints, argu ments, put-downs and subjective criticisms as far as possible from our talented, hopeful young generation. Translated by Mary Jarymowycz 20 ’’НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛЮТИЙ 1984 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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